Mount Tamalpais Watershed and to Reduce Ladder Fuels in the Marin County Parks Blithedale Summit Preserve
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COASTAL CONSERVANCY Staff Recommendation June 7, 2021 MOUNT TAMALPAIS WATERSHED FUELS REDUCTION PROJECT Project No. 21-016-01 Project Manager: Michael Bowen RECOMMENDED ACTION: Authorization to disburse up to $1,000,000 to the Marin Municipal Water District to implement vegetation management projects identified in the Biodiversity, Fire, and Fuels Integrated Plan (BFFIP) in the Mount Tamalpais Watershed, and to reduce ladder fuels in the Marin County Parks Blithedale Summit Preserve, and adoption of findings under the California Environmental Quality Act. LOCATION: Mount Tamalpais, Marin County EXHIBITS Exhibit 1: Project Location Map Exhibit 2: Biodiversity, Fire, and Fuels Integrated Plan (BFFIP) Exhibit 3: Final Program Environmental Impact Report and Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program for the Biodiversity, Fire and Fuels Integrated Plan RESOLUTION AND FINDINGS Staff recommends that the State Coastal Conservancy adopt the following resolution and findings. Resolution: The State Coastal Conservancy hereby authorizes a grant of an amount not to exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000) to Marin Municipal Water District (“the grantee”) to implement vegetation management projects identified in the Biodiversity, Fire, and Fuels Integrated Plan (BFFIP) in the Mount Tamalpais Watershed and to reduce ladder fuels in the Marin County Parks Blithedale Summit Preserve. Prior to commencement of the project, the grantee shall submit for the review and written approval of the Executive Officer of the Conservancy (Executive Officer) the following: 1. A detailed work program, schedule, and budget. Page 1 of 14 MOUNT TAMALPAIS WATERSHED FUELS REDUCTION PROJECT 2. Evidence that all permits and approvals required to implement the project have been obtained. 3. Evidence that the grantee has entered into agreements sufficient to enable the grantee to implement the project. Findings: Based on the accompanying staff recommendation and attached exhibits, the State Coastal Conservancy hereby finds that: 1. The proposed authorization is consistent with Chapter 3 of Division 21 of the Public Resources Code, regarding the Climate Ready Program. 2. The proposed project is consistent with the current Conservancy Project Selection Criteria and Guidelines. 3. The Conservancy has independently reviewed and considered the “Final Program Environmental Impact Report for the Biodiversity, Fire, and Fuels Integrated Plan” (“Final EIR”) certified by Marin Municipal Water District in October 2019 pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) and attached to the accompanying staff recommendation as Exhibit 3. a. The Conservancy finds that the BFFIP portion of the proposed project will have potentially significant environmental effects in the areas of Air Quality, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, Geology and Soils, Hazards and Hazardous Materials, Hydrology and Water Quality and Tribal Cultural Resource, as described in the CEQA section of the accompanying staff recommendation, and that with the exception of effects on Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas Emissions, these effects will be mitigated to a less-than-significant level through the mitigation measures identified in the Final EIR. b. The Conservancy further finds that the BFFIP portion of the proposed project may result in significant and unavoidable impacts to Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas Emissions but that environmental and other benefits of the proposed project as described in the accompanying staff recommendation outweigh and render acceptable these unavoidable adverse environmental impacts to achieve the objectives of the project. 4. The Conservancy adopts the Significant Impacts Findings and Statement of Overriding Considerations set forth in CEQA section of the accompanying staff recommendation. STAFF RECOMMENDATION PROJECT SUMMARY: Staff recommends authorization of a grant of an amount not to exceed one million dollars to Marin Municipal Water District (“Marin Water”) to implement vegetation management projects identified in the Biodiversity, Fire, and Fuels Integrated Plan (BFFIP), and to reduce ladder fuels Page 2 of 14 MOUNT TAMALPAIS WATERSHED FUELS REDUCTION PROJECT in the Marin County Parks Blithedale Summit Preserve. The proposed project consists of fuels modification and forestry restoration on approximately 500-acres within the Mount Tamalpais watershed and Blithedale Summit Preserve. Marin Water is serving as the project lead, but will subaward a portion of the work to the Marin County Parks and Open Space District (“Parks District”). Marin Water provides water for approximately 190,000 people living in central and southern Marin County and also manages approximately 21,600 acres of publicly accessible watershed lands that support rich, natural ecosystems. These lands have a long history of wildfire and, in general, the entire plan area has a moderate to high wildfire hazard risk. Over 25,000 structures housing approximately 45,000 residents are located within 2 miles of Marin Water lands along a wildland-urban interface (WUI) that has a California Department of Fire, Fire Hazard rating of “high” to “very high.” The Marin County Fire Department recorded 251 wildland fires in its jurisdiction during the 5-year period from 2009 to 2014. The wildland fires were most commonly caused by tree branches contacting power lines and sparks from mechanical equipment contacting vegetation. Most of the recorded small roadside fires were likely caused by vehicle exhaust systems contacting accumulated vegetation debris. Marin Water developed and adopted the Biodiversity, Fire, and Fuels Integrated Plan (BFFIP) and associated Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to address this situation. The purpose of the BFFIP is, in a large part, to identify the tools and actions Marin Water can take to reduce fuel loads and fire risks and improve ecosystem health on lands within its jurisdiction. The BFFIP identifies 27 specific actions that are designed to achieve the goals of minimizing the risk from wildfires, preserving and enhancing existing significant biological resources, and allowing for an adaptive framework for the periodic review and revision of BFFIP implementation in response to changing conditions and improved knowledge. Of the 27 actions identified in the BFFIP, 19 are considered administrative and would include inventorying and monitoring resources, partner collaboration, and planning for various District activities. The remaining eight management actions include vegetation management in the field through the use of hand tools and mechanical equipment to establish and maintain fuelbreaks and defensible spaces; to remove invasive plant species; and to improve and restore native ecosystems on watershed lands. These latter eight actions will be funded in part through this grant. Herbicide use, though analyzed in the EIR, is not included as part of the proposed project. All work on Marin Water land would be performed using manual and mechanical tools and equipment, and prescribed burning. The tools and techniques available for vegetation management actions, be it fuelbreak construction, fuelbreak maintenance, forest enhancement, or habitat restoration, are fundamentally the same regardless of the purpose of any given project. Project-specific differences arise in the use of those tools, with the timing, scale, intensity, and frequency of their use driven by site conditions and desired outcome. The BFFIP includes manual and mechanical approaches to manage vegetation. Manual methods of vegetation management include tree girdling, removal or pruning; mulching; plastic cover application (solarization); weed pulling by hand or using hand tools such as shovels to remove plants; competitive planting; and propane flame torching. Mechanical methods of vegetation management include Page 3 of 14 MOUNT TAMALPAIS WATERSHED FUELS REDUCTION PROJECT cutting and mowing with heavy equipment, cutting plants with powered hand equipment, scalping, mowing, masticating, and pulling large plants with heavy equipment. Prescribed burning, including broadcast and pile burning, is also included. As part of the BFFIP, Marin Water is conducting a series of management actions to construct and maintain fuelbreaks, manage the spread of non-native invasive species, thin and remove Douglas fir trees encroaching into sensitive habitats, such as grasslands and Oak woodlands, and is managing forests impacted by SOD to address fuel build up and improve stand structure on its lands. An additional project included in this grant will occur on Marin County Park’s Blithedale Preserve. Here the focus is on removing 30 acres of invasive ladder fuels, including decadent broom and dense Chilean mayten, in Douglas fir forest in the preserve. The project work will greatly benefit the health of the forest through reduce understory non-native fuels in the preserve as well as enriching habitat for the threatened Northern Spotted Owl. The BFFIP and EIR underwent an extensive outreach effort to the community. Numerous comments were received on the DEIR prior to Marin Water’s certification of the FEIR with numerous adjustments. Site Description: The BFFIP applies to the three administrative units owned by Marin Water: 1) Mount Tamalpais Watershed (also referred to as “the Watershed”); 2) Nicasio Reservoir, and 3) Soulajule Reservoir. The reservoirs provide drinking water to the region. The proposed project consists of work on the Marin Water’s Pine Point land within the first administrative unit of